Four Seasons: Winter
by Ian Reid
Summary: The first story of my Four Seasons Collection. With the arrival of Avatar Quon-Ji to the Northern Water Tribe city, romance soon follows for two aspiring Waterbenders.


Four Seasons:  
Winter  
By  
Ian Gainsborough

Author's Note: I rarely write romance, so this can be considered one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that hardly come around. So for the sake of it, enjoy these four short stories telling the tale of two lovers of each nation.

Winter

Chapter 1: The Avatar's Arrival

The North Pole had an air of excitement that contrasted with its grey overcast skies. The Avatar had come from the Eastern Air Temple, and the villagers gathered to stare at the Air bender as he passed through the channels. Water benders propelled their craft before the mighty Sky Bison on which the Avatar rode, waving and grinning broadly as many Air benders were known to do.  
"I can't believe Avatar Quon-Ji is here!" said many spectators excitedly. "An Air bender! How amazing! I've never seen an Air bender before!"  
"Ling Wei, isn't it exciting?"  
The girl shook Ling Wei's shoulder, her hood falling down from around her face to reveal long brown locks. Her eyes matched the grey overcast skies, as she turned to face her friend.  
"Yes, Ying, I think it's incredible."

The Avatar passed by, and across the canal Ling Wei spotted a boy she had never noticed before, a boy that would change her future in time.

The crowd had found their way to the halls for the welcoming feast for the Avatar, and waited patiently for him to come. Quon-Ji entered the banquet hall, the citizens bowing to him as he approached the patriarch chief, the Avatar himself bowing low and humbly.  
"Avatar Quon-Ji it is our deepest honor to welcome you this day to our village," said the chief, bowing back just as deeply.  
"No bigger an honor than it is being in your presence, Chief Iruk," said Quon-Ji. "I am here, as you expect, to learn the first discipline on my journey to become the Avatar." All at once, the people who had bowed at his presence sat upright, Avatar and Chief sitting upright lastly.  
"Of course," said Iruk. "I can assure you, Avatar Quon-Ji, that Master Hui will be the best teacher, and my son Umak to learn alongside you as a fellow student."  
"I will try not to humiliate him," laughed Quon-Ji, and the hall went up in applause and joining laughter.

"May we no longer talk now," said Iruk proudly, "Let us feast!"

"Hey, Wong Ho, you see that girl from earlier before?"  
Wong Ho looked up from his bowl of sea prunes to see the girl he admired from across the canal sitting at her own table with her family.  
"Who is she?" Wong Ho wondered, pulling a stray hair from his face.  
"You mean you don't know?" his friend scoffed. "That's Ling Wei, daughter of Sokka and Ming Ye! They're a noble family of Water benders from our sister tribe." Wong Ho sighed. Any chance he had with that girl was gone after the words, "noble family". Wong Ho pulled his long hair out of the way of his thin pointed face. Underneath his parka, he was very thin, looking like a starved boy. As his friend lifted his cup to drink, Wong Ho flexed his hand, fingers bending and pushing the drink to the roof of the titled cup. He relaxed his fingers when his friend examined his deceptively empty cup. Wong Ho laughed well after his friend punched him firmly in the arm as a payment for the mischief.  
"You're getting better in your bending, Wong," his friend said. "But you have a great deal more to learn if you want to be a challenge to Master Hui."  
"I know that, Fung," said Wong Ho. "But I'm a slow learner. I can't help it. I spend every night after class practicing to understand the move and see how I can try and improve it."

"How is that work of yours coming, along, though?" asked Fung after a drink.  
"Slowly," Wong Ho answered. "I didn't know poetry could take so much out of one just to write it."

"That is because poetry, like bending, comes from the soul."  
Wong Ho didn't have to turn around to realize Master Hui was standing behind him.

"Master Hui," he acknowledged. "What brings you over to my table?"  
"There will be a lesson tonight after the feast, to break in Avatar Quon-Ji to Water bending," Hui answered. "It will be like a normal class, but we will begin with the basics for the sake of the Avatar's training."  
"Thank you, Master," said Wong Ho.

The two hours of water-bending basics ended at long last. Near the end, Avatar Quon-Ji looked exhausted and had help from several eager students back to his hut. But the night was still relatively young, and Wong Ho had time before heading home.

Wong Ho traversed the walkways, little boats and crafts going down the waterways. He waved to a few of his friends, and gave them a boost on their way with a little bending. Twilight faded into the skies. Silence began to slip across the village like a blanket in the cold. Wong Ho stopped in his tracks as he heard the sounds of frustration.

"What am I doing wrong! Come on!"  
Wong Ho wend his way about the city until he turned the corner, to see the girl from the feast twisting and contorting her body in the process to form a tendril of water appear from the surface. In her frustration, the water returned to tis source and the girl let out a strained grunt.  
"You're doing it wrong," said Wong Ho, having enough of the pitiful sight. "You're jerking your body around too much. You have to loosen up a little." Ling Wei jumped with a start, nearly tripping over her own feet and into the cold water. Wong Ho reacted, bringing up a pillar of ice to catch her. With a twist of his hand, the pillar pushed Ling Wei to gain balance on her own. The force of the push, however overcompensated and she fell into his arms.

A closer look allowed Wong Ho to notice she had beautiful eyes of grey. At the same time she looked up into his eyes, glistening blue sapphires upon an ocean.  
"Your eyes are beautiful," he said thoughtlessly, not realizing he still held her. She pushed off, turning away and lifting her hood over her head.  
"Wait--," insisted Wong, grabbing hold of her sleeve. In an attempt to fight off her potential assailant, she lashed out, a long wire of water striking him clear in the face. It was cold, and Wong Ho staggered back. Soon as he managed to clear his vision, she was gone out of sight.

Author's Note: I changed my mind about one thing: Instead of just a collection of short stories, I will make it a series. That way, once this story is done, I can go ahead and get to work on the other stories and have those out of the way. Anyway, when I started writing this story, I had the idea, _Hey, how about write a collection of stories that take place before Avatar Aang? Be different for a change!_ and it was with this in mind, that did something different.


End file.
